Nut-wrench.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RANDOLPH RINGOLD OROUSE, OF BELLAIRE, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- THIRD TO ALONZO SIDNEY CROUSE, OF BELLAIRE, OHIO.

NUT-WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 11, 1906.

Application filed July 6, 1906- Serial No. 324,925.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RANDOLPH RINGoLn (house, a citizen .of the United States, residing at Bellaire, in the county of Belmont and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nut-Wrenches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

I have produced a nut-wrench the purpose of which is to provide a novel construction whereby when the wrench is applied to the nut it will be held thereon to continuously turn the nut, and thereby save the trouble and inconvenience of compelling the operator to remove and apply the wrench to effect every turn of the nut and also whereby the jaws may be automatically released from their locked relation to allow them to be applied to the nut, and in the claims appended hereto I will point out the construction wherein the novelty of the device resides.

The accompanying drawings represent in Figure 1 my improved wrench in perspective as it appears when its handles are clamped together to hold the jaw on the nut. Fig. 2 is a like view of the wrench as it appears when the clamping function of the handles on the jaw is released. Fig. 3 is a side view of the wrench. Fig. 4 shows the wrench as clamped upon the nut.

' A bar, preferably of spring-steel, is bent mediately of its length and formed at the bend with a square jaw, the sides 11 of which are parallel and extended as a pair of handles 2 2, which are contracted at their junction with the sides of the jaw by a cyma reverse curve, bringing the handles nearly together and forming a shoulder 3 8 at the outside of each bend. From these curves the handles diverge, and it is by their connection with the unyielding end or cross-bar 5 that the handles have a resilient function thereon and are caused to stand normally open to allow the jaw to be applied to the nut. The cross or end bar and the sides of the jaw are straight on their inner walls, and the sides are at right angles to the end bar, so as to give a gripping hold on the nut, while the handles are preferably cylindrical to give an easy hold for the hand in applying the jaw to the nut and forcing the handles together to clamp them thereon. To hold the wrench so that it can be continuously turned to screw or to unscrew the nut, a link 6 is held upon the contracted part of the handles, so as to be moved outward upon their diverging parts to hold the jaw clamped upon the nut and moved inward over the contracted part of the handles against their shoulders to release the jaw from the nut. In this release the resilient function of each handle extends to the angle junction 7 of each side of the jaw with the unyielding end or cross-bar, and it is the non-yielding function of this bar tllllat gives the resilient function to the hanc es.

- From the shoulders the contracted part of each handle has an upward arching curve, so that the plane of the handles is above the plane of the jaw, thereby rendering it con venient to apply the jaw to nuts in different positions and to rotatethe handles over the bolted parts in screwing and in unscrewing the nut and to give the resilient action of the handles the arching parts each spring from the contracted neck part by which the shoulders are formed.

I11 producing the wrench I take a round piece of steel of the required length and bring it to a red heat mediately of its length, where it is flattened a length suflicient to be formed into the angular jaw.

Looking at Fig. 2 it will be noted that an important advantage results from the connection of the handles with the unyielding cross-bar of the jaw, whereby the jaws may be automatically released from the lock of the link to allow them to be applied to the nut. This is effected by the diverging relation of the handles to the neck, whereby the operator grasping the handles and closing and compressing them causes the release of the locking action of the link and allows it to be thrown forward on the neck by giving the wrench a forward'thrust, thus allowing the jaws to have their maximum opening, while in closing and compressing the jaws upon the nut the link is moved up on the diverging handles away from the jaws.

I claim 1. A nut-wrench formed of a bar in which the jaw-opening or nut-receiving space is bounded by sides from which the handles spring, and an unyielding cross-bar connecting the sides, said handles joining the jaw sides in a contracted neck and diverging therefrom, and a link movable on the diverging handles away from the jaws in closing and compressing them, each handle having a resilient function from its angle connection with the unyielding cross-bar of the jaw whereby the link is, under a closing pressure on the jaws, caused to be automatically released from its locked relation to the jaws to allow them to open.

2. A nut-wrench consisting of a bar flattened mediately of its length, the jaw being formed by said flattened part with an unyielding end or cross bar, and the jaw sides terminating in a contracted neck from which the handles diverge, each handle having a resilient function at its angular junction with the cross-bar, and a link movable on handles away from the jaws to lock them. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RANDOLPH RINGOLD CROUSE. Witnesses:

FRANK S. MASON, OLIVER C. TARBET. 

